Governor



R. ESPIE.

GOVERNOR. APPHCATION FILED OCT-16,19I9.

Patented Mar. 28, 1922.

ATTORNEYS ROBERT ESPIE, OF MOUNT CARROLL, ILLINOIS,

GOVERNOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 28, 19.22.

Application filed October 16, 1919. Serial No. 831,008.

1 all whom it'may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT EsPIn a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mount Carroll in the county of Carroll and State of Illinois, have invented anew and Improved Governor, of which the following is a full. clear, and exact description.

This invention relates in general to governors, and particularly to an improved governor for marine engines for automatically actuating a throttle of the engine when the propeller rises and'ceases to impart the normal propulsion to the shaft.

The'primary object of the invention is to provide a governing device. for automaticallvthrottling the engine when the propeller is raised out of the water and thus permitted to race. due to the vessel being abnormally rocked by a heavy sea.

The illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown on the. accompanying drawing, and in which Figure 1 is a top plan viewillustrating the application of the invention to a marine propeller shaft, and Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section.

Referring to the drawings by reference characters the propeller shaft A will be considered as of a conventional type with the exception that it is divided into two sections, one of which namely, that on which the propeller B is mounted, is capable of longitudinal movement relative to the other section, but so connected to the other section that at no time is one section free to rotate without imparting rotation to the other section.

This is accomplished by means of the twopart coupling 5, each part of which being provided with a multiplicity of relatively long fingers or teeth 6 with slots between the teeth or fingers so that the fin gers on one part may be received by the slots in the other part and vice versa. For convenience that section of the propeller shaft between the coupling and the propeller B will be referred to as a driven section, whereas the other part will be referred to as a driving section.

In actual practice the driven section of the shaft will extend through a s't-ufling box in the hull of the vessel, however, this stufling box is not shown in the present illustration. but in its stead the shaft is shown as extended through a wall 7, the opening through the Wall made to receive the shaft acting in the capacity at least for illustrat ing purposes, as a bearing. Supported by the standard 8 is a permanently fixed block 9 having an axial opening through which the driven section of the shaft passes with freedom of rotation. The block is braced at its top by means of a bracket 10 which extends substantially parallel with the shaft and terminates with its end fastened to the wall 7. Slidably mounted on the driven section of the shaft and diametrically spaced from the block 9 is a second block 11. This block is sopositioned relative to block 9 as to sup port one end of a tension device which is interposed between the confrontin faces of the blocks. This tension device in its preferred form comprises a plurality of coil springs 12., The normal tendency of these springs is to impart a longitudinal movement to the driven section of the shaft. the direction of the movement being from the driving section. Now inasmuch as an abutment 13 is fixed to the driven section of the shaft behind the slidably mounted block 11, expansion of the springs will slide the block 11. away from the block 9 and until it abuts against the abutment 13, whereupon the continued expansion of'the springs will slide the driven section of the shaft away from the driving section and partially disengage the teeth in the two-part coupling The disengagement of the coupling must never be complete as it is necessary to always maintain the driving section in driving relation with the driven section, therefore to prevent complete disengagement of the sections at the coupling a stop 14 is fixed to the driven section of the shaft behind the abutment 1? and the stop being so positioned as to leave a space between it and the wall 7, substantially that of the length of the teeth or fingers 6. Inasmuch as the abutment 13 is fixed to and must rotate with the driven section of the shaft and as the block 11 contacts therewith friction reducing means such as the balls 15 working in annular grooves in both the faces of the abutment and block, are provided to permit rotation of the abut ment relative to the block 11 with a mini mum frictional engagement. Fixed to the block 11 as at 16 is an arm 17 which extends vertically of the block and pivoted to the bracket 10 as at 18. Fastened to the end of this arm is a connection 19 which. connects with the throttle of the engine which furnishes the necessary power to the propeller shaft.

The operation of the device is substantially as follows:

So long as the propeller is properly submerged the resistance of the water incident to the rotation of the propeller will impart a thrust to the driven section of the shaft in a direction to maintain the two parts of'the coupling 5 intact. However, should the vessel be pitched at an abnormal angle which would cause the propeller to be raised from the water and the resistance of the water removed, the propeller will race. At the same time the thrust on the'driven section of the shaft is relieved permitting the tension device, or rather the springs 12 to expand and impart a longitudinal movement to the driven section of the shaft. This will bring about a sliding movement of the block 11 whereupon the arm 17 will be rocked about its pivot and the connection 19 to the throttle valve manipulated in a manner to control the effective port area of the throttle valve and reduce the speed of the engine, likewise the speed of the propeller shaft.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is as follows: I w

1. The combination of a propeller shaft divided by a coupling capable of permitting longitudinal movement of one of the sections of the shaft, but maintaining the sections in rotatable driving relation to each other, of a governing device therefor comprising a permanently fixed block through which thelongitudinal movable section of the shaft extends with freedom. of rota- 'tion, a diametrically opposed block slidably mounted on the said shaft section, adjustable means on the said shaft section for limiting the sliding movement of the said last named block, a spring tension device interposed between the confronting faces of said blocks, said device being normally maintained un der tension when a normal drive is imparted to the propeller shaft, but capable of expanding to slide said slidably mounted block and the driven section of the propeller shaft when the'thrust incident to the normal drive of the propeller shaft is relieved, and means connected to said slidably mounted block adapted to effect a throttling down of the engine.

2. The combination of a propeller shaft divided by a coupling capable of'permitting longitudinal movement of one of the shaft sections but maintaining the sections in rotatably driving relation to each other, of a governing device comprising a pair of opposed blocks spaced apart on the longitudinal movable section of the shaft, a tension device between said blocks being one of said blocks capable of longitudinal movement relative to the other,a stop fixed to andadjustable on the shaft for limiting the sliding movement of said slidably mounted block; whereby expansion of the tension device may impart a longitudinal movement to the shaft section when the forward thrust incident to the drive of the propeller is relieved, bearings between the slidable block and the stop, and a governing control between the driving means for the propeller shaft and said longitudinal movable block.

' ROBERT ESPIE. 

